Each day Walter would see the piano technicians coming and going, dressed better than himself, tool case in their hands.
During this time, the Heintzman piano factory had a facility across from Maple Leaf Milling Co. Already an accordion player, Walter began vocal lessons which he thought would help in his learning of the English language. located by Dundas & Keele Street.ġ952 to 1960 – Walter already had a love for music. An experienced miller, Walter quickly found work at the Maple Leaf Milling Co. Nearly a century ago in a small North Eastern European city.ġ928 – Of German ancestry, Waldemar (Walter) Schienke was born in the German settlement of Rumoka, Poland.ġ945 – Seeking a more stable environment following the end of WWII, the Schienke family moved to Mecklenburg, Germany and Walter continued on to the town of Detmold, Germany.ġ948 - After apprenticing and completing his journeyman as a miller in Detmold, Walter would eventually be the manager of the mill by his early 20's – unknowingly a position that would serve as a link a few years later in Canada, introducing him to the world of becoming a piano technician.ġ952 – Following his older sister and younger brother to Canada, Walter arrived in Canada and together with his younger brother settled in Toronto.